LEPRALIA POLITA. 315 



It is probably not uncommon, but may easily have been 

 passed by from its general and superficial resemblance to 

 CeUepora pumicosa. 



Lepralia polita, Norman. 



Plate XXXII. fig. 5. 



Lepralia polita, Norman, Ann. N. H. ser. 3, xiii. (1864), 87, pi. xi. fig. 1. 



Zocecia large, ovate, suberect, ventricose, deeply divided, 

 irregularly arranged, the surface smooth and polished ; 

 orifice longer than broad, arched above, the lower 

 margin straight or slightly curved outwards ; 4-5 

 short oral spines, rarely present ; peristome usually 

 raised on each side into a knob-like process, which, in 

 fertile cells, projects in front of the ovicell. Ocecia 

 globose, recumbent, closely united to the cell above, 

 smooth or minutely pitted. 



Colonies forming small patches of a pinkish colour when 

 living. 



Habitat. On shells and stones from deep water. 



Localities. Shetland, 70-100 fathoms; the Minch, 

 Hebrides (A. M. N.). 



The cells are remarkable for their size and distinctness 

 and for their smooth and highly polished surface. When 

 dead the zoarium loses its pinkish tint, and is of a silvery 

 greyish- white. The cells are very slightly raised towards 

 the oral extremity, and often obscurely punctured round 

 the base. The mouth is nearly semielliptical, the height 

 exceeding the width considerably ; the oral spines are 

 seldom met with, but traces of them may generally be 

 detected on some of the cells in a colony. There seems 

 to be much diversity in the degree in which the peristome 



